(1) Field of the Invention
This invention is concerned with a shoe support for supporting a shoe comprising an upper and an insole carried on a last. The term "shoe" where used herein is used generically as indicating articles of outer footwear generally and as including an article of outer footwear in the course of its manufacture.
(2) Prior Art
Shoe supports have been proposed and used comprising toe support means and heel support means, the relative positions of said toe support means and heel support means being settable, according to the size and style of shoe, in directions extending both lengthwise and widthwise of the shoe bottom, wherein the heel support means comprises a last pin on which a last with an upper and insole carried thereon can be supported, bottom uppermost, and which is mounted on a support member for limited rocking movement about an axis extending lengthwise of the shoe bottom.
Shoe supports of the aforementioned type have been proposed for use in e.g. heel seat lasting machines, in which a problem has been found to arise, especially where lasting marginal portions of the upper are to be secured to corresponding marginal portions of the insole by means of metallic fasteners, e.g. tacks, in that the last pin, on which the shoe is supported, conventionally is accommodated in an appropriately positioned hole in the last cone, but such holes are often carelessly drilled with a result that either they are not arranged with their longitudinal axis normal to the cone surface, or they are not positioned centrally of the cone, or both. Thus, a fixed lasy pin may well serve to support the shoe with the bottom thereof misaligned in relation to the heel seat lasting instrumentalities. The rocking last pin overcomes this problem in that it enables the shoe bottom to be correctly oriented in relation to the plane of the heel seat lasting instrumentalities, regardless of the position of the last pin hole in the last cone.
In such a shoe support, however, the arrangement has usually been such that the rocking axis of the last pin is aligned with the longitudinal center line of the heel seat lasting instrumentalities. Where, however, the toe end of the shoe bottom is significantly offset from the longitudinal center line of the heel end portion of the shoe bottom, and thus the toe support means of the shoe support is significantly offset from the longitudinal center line of the machine, the support for the shoe may become unstable. This instability is believed to arise primarily because of the lack of symmetry of the last about its heel-to-toe plane, in combination with the bulk of the material of the last being disposed about the rocking axis of the last pin, with the result that the last pin is urged by the bulk of the last to rock about its axis, this rocking being such that the less bulky portion of the last, on the opposite side of the heel-to-toe plane, tends to lift off the toe support means. At the same time, rocking of the last in an opposite direction, which may be desirable in order to orient correctly the shoe bottom in the plane of the heel seat lasting instrumentalities, is strongly opposed because of the relationship between the rocking axis of the last pin and the heel-to-toe plane of the last.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide an improved shoe support of the type referred to above, in the use of which the shoe is supported in a more stable manner, while at the same time enabling the shoe to be oriented as desired to operating instrumentalities of a machine for operating on the shoe, regardless of the shoe bottom contour.
The invention thus provides a shoe support for supporting a shoe comprising an upper and an insole carried on a last, said support comprising toe support means and heel support means, the relative positions of said toe support means and heel support means being settable, according to the size and style of shoe, in directions extending both lengthwise and widthwise of the shoe bottom, wherein the heel support means comprises a last pin on which a last with an upper and insole carried thereon can be supported, bottom uppermost, and which is mounted on a support member for limited rocking movement about an axis extending lengthwise of the shoe bottom, the support member being itself mounted for movement about an axis extending heightwise of the shoe bottom whereby the support member can be positioned with the rocking axis of the last pin substantially in the heel-to-toe plane of the shoe supported by the shoe support.
By thus aligning the rocking axis of the last pin in the heel-to-toe plane of the shoe, the tendency of the shoe to rock in an undesirable manner as above described is resisted, while limited rocking in both directions about the rocking axis, for purposes of orienting the shoe bottom to operating instrumentalities, is permitted.
For positioning the support member as aforesaid, locating means may be provided, comprising a locating pin engageable in one or more recesses provided therefor. The locating pin may be inserted by the operator after he has positioned the support member in a desired position. Alternatively, the locating pin may comprise a spring-urged detent, which yields as the operator rotates the support member. Furthermore, clamp means may be provided by which the support member can be clamped when it has been positioned as aforesaid.
The mounting for the last pin conveniently comprises a cradle in which a block supporting the last pin is mounted for limited rocking movement, and the cradle being mounted in a support block carried by the support member, and being slideable in relation to said support block in a direction extending widthwise of the shoe bottom, locking means being provided for securing the cradle in adjusted widthwise position. Such setting of the cradle, widthwise of the shoe bottom, provides compensation for the difference, widthwise of the shoe bottom, between the longitudinal center line of the cone surface of the last and the longitudinal center line of the heel seat of the shoe bottom.
In addition, the support block and support member preferably have complementarily shaped inter-engaging faces, the center of curvature of which extends widthwise of the shoe bottom, the support block being slideable relative to the support member about said center of curvature, and locking means being provided for securing the support block in adjusted position on said member. Such adjustment enables different styles of shoe to be accommodated, more especially according to the heel height thereof.
The locking means for securing the support block as aforesaid conveniently comprises two adjustable stop members engageable with the abutment means, said members and means being associated one with the support block and the other with the support member, the stop members serving also to enable the position in which the support block is clamped thereby to be adjusted.
In order adequately to support the last on the last pin, furthermore, preferably a last support plate is provided, to be engaged by the cone surface of the last supported by the last pin, the under-side of said plate having a part-spherical recess co-operating with a complementarily shaped surface of the block supporting the last pin and being resiliently secured on said block. Thus, regardless of the orientation of the last on the last support, an overall surface contact can be achieved between the shoe-engaging surface of the last support plate and the corresponding last cone surface.